Spielberg’s ‘Munich’ may get Oscar bid

With less than a month left to qualify for Academy Award consideration, all but one of the leading candidates for best picture have begun screening for Oscar voters and the media.

So, naturally, the unseen film is the one most on their minds.

“Munich,” the Steven Spielberg movie about the 1972 Olympics that opens in limited release Dec. 23, doesn’t get its first screening until this week.

“When it’s Spielberg and serious subject matter, you have to pay attention,” says Sasha Stone of the Web site Oscarwatch.com, who names “Munich” as the leading contender for best picture.

Several other films are emerging as worthy competitors.

“Brokeback Mountain,” the Ang Lee film about gay cowboys, leads the pack, according to moviecitynews.com, which polls 13 film writers every week. It opens in limited release Friday.

“It’s hitting on a powerful demographic in the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences): women and homosexuals,” says David Poland, who runs moviecitynews.com.

Other films gaining early momentum:

“ “Walk the Line.” The Johnny Cash biography has done well with critics and audiences, and the musical biopic “is a genre Oscar loves,” says Tom O’Neil of theenvelope.com.

“ Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” (opening Dec. 14). “I was really impressed with the quality across the board,” says Rob Alarcon of Cinema Confidential (www.cinecon.com).

“”Memoirs of a Geisha” (limited, Friday). “It’s epic, it’s adapted from a beloved book, and it’s a love story,” says O’Neil. “It will need to really stumble at the box office to not get nominated.”

“”The New World” (limited, Dec. 25). Terrence Malick’s take on Pocahontas won raves from the Los Angeles Times but is dividing other critics.

“”Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Capote,” “Match Point.” These smaller films are duking it out for what is typically Oscar’s single seat for such fare at the best-picture table.

“Night” and “Capote” have done reasonably well commercially, while the Woody Allen drama “Match Point,” opening in limited release Dec. 28, is “screening well,” Poland says.